The Heat won Game 1 for myriad reasons, but one happens to matter more than the rest: They employ Jimmy Butler, who scored 41 points and attempted 18 free throws against a Celtics defense that needed key minutes from Payton Pritchard and Daniel Theis because Marcus Smart and Al Horford did not play. Boston looked predictably vulnerable in the fourth quarter, as Butler summoned Pritchard into one ball screen after another, a deliberate tactic that consistently manufactured quality looks.
For one night, that strategy was a solution. But, assuming Smart and Horford eventually recover from a foot sprain and health and safety protocols, Miami won’t be able to eat with it all series.